That morning, Withinia immediately worked under Loraleigh. She left the room and returned, bringing a towel and a tub filled with clean water for Loraleigh to rinse her face with.
It was the first time someone had served Loraleigh like this. The service she would usually receive was hearing the constant prayers from the people of distinct races while she took her lovely rest in the spirit world.
She had enough of the cries from every greedy person. Although she wanted to put an end to it, it was something she couldn't stop naturally.
That was until he met the desperate man, Aiken Swithin. The only solution to her problem was to sign a contract and leave the cave. Ever since, she had heard no pleas.
Loraleigh wiped her face with the towel which Withinia handed her after washing her face.
"Can I ask you a question, Milady?" The maid suddenly talked out of blue. "How old are you?"
Loraleigh averted her gaze from the young maid. She pressed her lips tight, hesitating to answer her question. "...I am," she paused, "a little older than you."
Loraleigh peered to her left to see Withinia's reaction. The young maid's eyes were sparkling as they stared right at her. She seemed like a child who was curious. "Why don't you guess my age, Nia?"
"Hm, since I just turned 16 last month..." Withinia placed a finger on her chin. She took her time guessing and came up with an answer in a minute. "I think the Lady is 21?"
"No! I'm not an infan—" Loraleigh hurriedly erased the wrinkles around her face. The statement startled her. For a second, she forgot she was carrying a conversation with a human. Loraleigh coughed. She straightened out, "I mean, do I look that young?"
Withinia angled her head in a side. She scanned her master's ageless face, judging it would be impossible that she was older than 21. "Is Milady older than 21? Then, are you 22?"
"A little higher."
Withinia inclined her brows into a pronounced frown. She said, "Um, a little higher, okay." She placed a finger on her chin again and took another minute to guess. Her eyes shined bright when she told, "Oh, my last guess is, Milady, you're 25."
A side of Loraleigh's nose scrunched up. She loathed the fact she looked like a fawn to other races. "Do I look like 25?"
Withinia held her arms in the air and crossed them in 'x', knowing she had offended her master. "No, actually Milady looks younger!"
"Okay, I'm actually 21." Loraleigh folded the towel in her hands. She passed it to the young maid and flashed a smile. She talked inwardly, 'She might've misunderstood. I'm almost a millennium old, but I can't tell her!'
"Sweet! I was right with my first guess!" Withinia rejoiced. Her chubby cheeks flushed pink and her lips curled up in a smile while she placed the tub on the round table. She then guided Loraleigh to the vanity desk. "Oh right, Milady, I heard you bought dresses yesterday?"
Loraleigh grabbed the seat and sunk her bum on it. She watched Withinia grab a brush inside a drawer and used it on her. The young maid was gentle as she brushed her hair. She looked into the mirror and matched Withinia's gaze and replied, "Yes, I bought two, which will be delivered tonight. They also took my measures and Abel said new custom dresses will come next month."
"Custom dresses?" Withinia couldn't help but asked, "Are you going to attend a party, Milady?" If she had ears of a cat, she could imagine them perking while chatting with her master.
It was the first time that Loraleigh had heard the word. "A party? What's that?"
Withinia stopped what she was doing. She brought a hand to her lips and mumbled something to herself. When she remembered her master was waiting for her, she hurriedly responded, "O-Oh, the tea parties to socialise with other ladies, the hosted parties by nobles, or any parties for a charity. Are you attending one, Milady?"
"No," was the quick reply from Loraleigh.
"Then did Milady order custom dresses for...?"
"It's because Abel told me to buy anything. A person came here. He said he was a tailor, took my measures and talked about custom dresses. I just agreed to anything he said."
Withinia's brows frowned, and her forehead wrinkled. She asked, "Did the tailor say the price of the dresses, Milady?"
Loraleigh couldn't understand why the maid's face looked concerned. "I don't know. I just let Abel handle it," she replied, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at Withinia's squinting eye.
"Can I look at them, Milady? Did the tailor at least give you a copy of the dresses in papers?" Withinia insisted, placing the brush in her hand on the vanity desk.
Loraleigh nodded. She stood from her seat and headed to the round table where papers were sitting close to a water tub. She took it and hesitantly passed it to Withinia. "If you're talking about papers, he sent me these. But all I see are plain white papers."
"Let me teach you, Milady. You just have to press this part and wait for the images to display on the paper." Withinia stepped beside Loraleigh and showed her how.
Loraleigh observed the young maid's every move. Withinia placed a finger on a circle mark at the bottom right corner of the paper. When she did, the mark lit red and nothing happened.
"It just read my fingerprint and rejected me to see the picture. It has to be yours so it will work, Milady."
"So, I have to do that to the other papers too?" Loraleigh questioned. "This seems like a work of magic."
"Yes, Milady. I heard it's avoiding the other people to peek at somebody's design and copy it!" Withinia explained. "This feature is cool, isn't it? The Emperor himself thought of this solution!"
'The same pushover I know? Leovic Sigeberht?'